From the archive:

I have been troubled for some time now by the notion of college students not engaged in conversations beyond themselves, in what should have been their own expression of empowerment on campus, and their willingness to accept the status quo without questioning it. I hope that this debacle will change all that.

It's sad to consider that after four years of the best education money can buy, these students have only over the last year "been forced to relearn the lessons" of their great-grandparents' generation. One would hope that the well educated wouldn't need to witness firsthand a repetition of mistakes of the past to get the point.

Do you understand the difference between "Is it worth buying?" and "Can it be sold?"

The credit crash of the late 2000s should have been followed by decades of soul-searching; instead, even before the old bubble had fully deflated, a new mania began to take hold ... that the modest expansion of domestic (and "green"!) energy production can produce social harmony and national economic well-being.

The bubble cycle has replaced the business cycle.

On Thought, Engagement, and Repeated Mistakes

What is it? Some kind of local trouble?

I fear something terrible has happened.

Do you know what's going on?
Maybe it's another drill.

One thing's for sure, we're all gonna be a lot thinner.

This is *not* gonna work.
Why didn't you say so before?
I *did* say so before.

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

I got a problem here.
Eject!
I can hold it.
Pull up!
No, I'm all right... ahhh!

There's nothing for me here now.

Fearless Certainty, Without A Doubt

Is this the end of hypercapitalism?

Cable news commentators led up to the event -- what could well be a hinge moment in modern history -- like children on a Halloween sugar bender.

Cookies have long served as economic icons.

And it showed.

* * *
* * *
* * *

It's just sad that it's come to this, but I can't say I'm surprised.

I don't want any of those things. I find it absolutely fatuous.

The greenest thing you can do in your kitchen is not tear it up and put in a new one.

You often learn who you are by realizing who you are not.

A Word, brought to you by the Violent Femmes:

Well I'm reading this poem
and it's so profound
and I like its rhythm
and I like its sound
it's by a very famous poet
no critic can criticise
and then I pause a moment
and I start to realize
he's tellin'
lies lies lies
on the motel TV.
I dig the evangelist
he'll tell you all about that
and then he tell you all about this
he's preachin' up a storm
by the sea of Galilee
he's mixin' up the truth
with something funny I start to see
he's tellin'
lies lies lies
I never had this problem
with nobody in the government
I guess I always figured
they never mean what they meant
and GOD help us all
not to be so stone surprised
when we wake up in the stars
with the skies in our eyes
if we keep tellin'
lies lies lies

Lies

Forget, for a second, the image of fat-cat plutocrats walking away with taxpayer money.

We are in uniform, but there are no passengers. This means anything goes. We do not wear our seatbelts.

They deliberately use the word "fat" as a way to reclaim it.

Perfection is the consolation of those who have nothing else.

I guess the only consensus I've heard is that one is as bad as the other.

"We don't consider someone a real friend until we take a bath together."

Nearby a skeleton hangs from a hook as in a science lab.

"The chant is 'drill, baby, drill,' " she said.

The concept is simple. The exacting execution is not.

Many people with high school diplomas are not ready for college.

We're all people for hire at the end of the day.

There used to be a time if you didn't have money to buy something, you just didn't buy it.

For many of us -- not least adolescents -- reality is now largely a virtual experience.

If only it were that easy.

We're all losers now. There's no pleasure to it.

For four months Rhapsody will be the exclusive online seller of Kid Rock's music.

It's hard to see what this adds, beyond lower production costs and a slightly cheesy, threadbare feel.

He's like Charlie Rose that way.

Mysterious, mysterious, mysterious -- but not in the least interesting.

Home prices continued to fall sharply in July, for a decline of 16.3 percent over 12 months, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of prices in 20 major cities. There is no sign that prices have hit their bottom.

The average Afghan spends one-fifth of his income on bribes.

"I don't like statistics," she said.

When times are tough, there is no better form of escapism than a night at a gentlemen's club.

Cynicism will lead you to the truth. Or vice versa.

You only die once.